As a resident of Boulder and Boulder County for over 40 years, I have great gratitude for those open space visionaries (and those who care for it today) who went before me, creating so much walkable, hikeable, bikeable open space I/we all love. Over the years I have enjoyed mountain biking the 15-mile Dirty Moto Bismarck Marshall Mesa Coalton trail, the Flatirons Vista, Dowdy Draw, Heil Valley Ranch and more trails.

Unfortunately at 78, age-related handicaps due to much slower maximum pulse rate, weakening muscles and a triple bypass, I had to walk my bike up steeper sections last fall, which was not fun. Not wanting to give up these wonderful outdoor riding experiences, I purchased a mountain ebike to compensate for my handicap — the aging process.

However, I did not realize I was breaking the law riding the Dirty Moto Bismarck three weeks ago with my ebike, until some energetic young mountain bikers (on machines that looked like mine) yelled at me to get off the car-width trail with my ebike. My hearing aids were turned on, so I clearly heard their frustration with me as I pedaled with a huff and puff silently by them, emitting zero pollutants, as my ebike is charged with Colorado sunshine from our PV system.

Of course, even though I am an old guy who likes to follow the law, I had to complete the loop as a law-breaker in order to get back to my all-electric car at the Marshall trailhead. Fortunately, I was not called out by any other riders, who may not have realized my mountain bike was an ebike, so I recovered a little of my damaged “good senior citizen” self-concept.

Guilt, guilt, guilt! But why feel guilty, I asked myself? There are many reasons I shouldn’t feel guilty in my eyes:

The taxes I paid over the last 42 years as a Boulder County homeowner helped pay for our open space that can be used by my children, their children and their children.

Young bike riders pass me (and hikers) on my ebike on rugged trails like I was standing still. Also, unlike this old rider on an ebike, powerful young riders can get up on their pedals and easily spin the rear tire, damaging the trail. I cannot, even with electric motor assist.

My “old guy” ebike makes no more noise than the machines used by young bikers, although my huffing and puffing may be louder.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires all federal agencies (including the Forest Service) and state and local governments to make accommodations for citizens with handicaps. I guess we can debate whether a 75-plus-year-old is handicapped compared to a 35-year-old mountain biker, but I can testify it feels like it.

At the very least, it feels discriminatory that young Boulder County people can enjoy all Open Space Mountain Parks bikeable trails, and this old guy is barred from some that he used to ride with gusto. It seems to me that allowing ebikes for seniors is a reasonable “age-related handicapped” accommodation.

So what would be one equitable open space ebike solution for this old guy, and perhaps a few other Boulder County senior residents? How about an ebike permit for those seniors over 65 who want to pedal the more-difficult Boulder County Open Space bike trails on Marshall Mesa (Coalton Trail), Heil Valley Ranch and others.

These highly visible permits could hang from our ebikes, alerting potential citizens arrest folks we old folks are riding within the law — mostly on the small chain ring with an assist from onboard, stored electrons. Don’t worry, I truly doubt there will be a stampede of old folks looking to ride the more-difficult, bikeable open space trails.

Hopefully the Boulder County Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee will consider such an ebike rule change.

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